CLINTON, N.Y. – The best attacking team in the country was at it again on Friday night as the No. 21 Wesleyan volleyball team dispatched Hamilton in three sets (25-13, 25-18, 25-22) from the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. With the win, Wesleyan improves to 13-1 (5-0 NESCAC) while the Continentals (3-9, 0-6 NESCAC) remain winless in league play.
Coming into the match with a .283 hitting percentage, the Cardinals produced another efficient night on offense, generating 37 kills with just eight errors on 88 swings. That was good enough for a .330 attack percentage, marking the eighth time in 14 matches that the Cardinals have hit .300+. Tonight's performance ups the Cardinals' season-long attack percentage to .285, tops among all teams in Division III.
For as good as the offense has been all season, blocking has been another strength and tonight was no different. Coming in ranked third nationally in blocks per set, the Cardinals stacked up six total blocks in the first set to pave the way to a convincing 25-13 win. The combination of Katleyn Olin '27 and
India Clark '28 was devastating to the Hamilton hitters as each Cardinal tallied four blocks in the opening set alone. The defense at the net, combined with four services aces including three from
Sophia Lindus '26, was the difference in a 12-point first set win.
After hitting just .143 in the first set, the Cardinal offense came to life with a .367 percentage in the second set. A balanced offense saw four Cardinals tally at least two kills in the set while Wesleyan stacked up another four service aces to win by a convincing 25-18 scoreline. The Cardinals won the first four points of the second set and later strung together a 5-0 run to open up a 15-6 lead, which proved more than enough in the end.
Looking to close out the match, Wesleyan had to deal with a Hamilton side that led for most of the third set. The Continentals won five straight points to lead 6-3 and continued to hold an advantage until very late on in the stanza. After Wesleyan climbed back out in front 18-17, Hamilton went on a 3-0 run and led as late as 22-21 before the Cardinals managed four unanswered points to take a 25-22 third set win to clinch the match.
Siena Steines '28 went for two kills in that match-clinching 4-0 run while
Fiona LaCamera '27 had the kill on match point.
Steines and Clark combined for 14 kills with no errors on 26 attempts in the match. Steines went 7-for-10, hitting .700 in the win while Clark went 7-for-16 with six total blocks.
Mila Chan '28 added seven kills and five digs while Olin had six kills and five blocks and LaCamera had four kills and three blocks.
Ali Landa '26 finished with 19 assists and four digs while
Alexa Schnell '29 tallied 11 assists, two aces, three kills, and three digs.
Elliana Moreno '27 finished with a team-high eight digs.
The Cardinals are back in action with their final regular season match played away from home, as Wesleyan pays a visit to their Little Three rival Amherst on Saturday at 2 PM.
